First published 2018
Sakumi wakes into a world where pieces are missing. An accident has stolen her memory, leaving gaps where important things once lived. She knows a celebrated actress has died under terrible circumstances. She knows this actress was her sister. But the connections between love and loss refuse to surface. Her sister's lover stays close, along with Sakumi's younger brother, who sees things others cannot. Together they guide her through the strange territory of a mind rebuilding itself. Sakumi must discover not just whom she loved, but why that love mattered. The journey takes her through dreams that feel more real than waking, through shadows that hold fragments of truth. Banana Yoshimoto constructs a story where grief becomes a doorway rather than a wall. Sakumi's search reveals how memory works not as storage but as creation, building meaning from scattered moments. The path leads toward something larger than remembering.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, magical-realism, psychological-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
384 pages · Paperback · Grove Press
Content warnings: mental-illness